Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 6 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
other uses. The new parish hall will be capable of seating 100 for dinner.
For years the growing congregation of St. Peter’s has met weekly in the tiny two-room “annex” beside the old Washington School on Mount Salem Avenue in Washington.
Gathering to worship on metal chairs the group was often crowded and uncomfortable, said the Rev. Verbeke.
The two-room “annex” now seats 80 comfortably — but parish membership has grown to over 250 individuals. Daily mass is held at 8 a.m. and weekly Sunday School classes have been created.
“There is average attendance due to the lack of facilities at the present site,” the Rev. Verbeke said.
In their earliest days, the tiny congregation of maybe 10 or so met at the home of Marilyn and Frank Skowronski in Washington with the late the Rev. Maurice du Castillon of Culpeper acting as chaplain.
This was satisfactory until the group grew and relocated their Sunday meetings to Huntly.
The Sunday service in Huntly lasted until 1981 when Father Maurice moved to Washington and began a decade of ministry in the “annex.”
“In 1981, St. Peter’s officially was started,” the Rev. Verbeke said. He added that as more and more attended the tiny church, its independence from Culpeper’s Precious Blood was named on March 3, 1981.
“St. Peter was the first apostle,” the Rev. Verbeke explained of the church’s name, adding no other church in the diocese was named for the saint and “with its missionary nature it seemed appropriate to name Rappahannock’s St. Peter’s.”
In 1988, the Rev. Verbeke joined the church, bringing his knowledge of church renovation and building to the tiny parish.
“I love it here,” he said, looking fondly over the landscape of Washington.
97.0%